Report-1848, September 26

Sept. 26, 1848, Excerpt from Report of Richard Cummins to the Commissioner or Indian Affairs.

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   Of all the tribes on the border the Shawnees have made the greatest progress, and some of their farms will compare with many of the best within the State line; and in very many instances, they are superior both as regards management and culture. A few of the more opulent have negro slaves.

   You will observe by the statistics herewith, that almost every family is well supplied with farming stock; such as horses, oxen, milch cows, and other cattle, hogs and some sheep, and agricultural implements. They have raised abundance of corn, some wheat, potatoes, oats and garden vegetables; have made butter and cheese, and have cultivated fruit. Their hunts will appear of little or no moment. In tact the “Indian hunter” has disappeared from among the border tribes, and the farmer has taken his place. All these Indians dwell in good log cabins, and some have extremely neat houses well furnished. They have outhouses, stables, well fenced lots, and some have good barns. Indeed, a traveller passing through their country would fancy himself within the pale or the “white settlements” were it not for the swarthy lineaments and strange language of the inhabitants.

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[Reports or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1845 1848, p. 446.]